VON PAPEN: Well, we knew that there was a large camp in
DACHAU, but BUCHENWALD and BELSEN, those names I learned
only three weeks ago, here. I never received an invitation
to visit those camps.

B.A.O.: And who was in charge of those camps?

VON PAPEN: The SS, HIMMLER. I knew of a camp in
ORANIENBURG and MECKLENBURG for women but that such
atrocities occurred there, one never knew. The only thing
discussed among the generals and the people was the massacre
of Jews in POLAND. So that did seep through.

You are entirely justified in punishing those atrocities
as severely as you can -- those murderers must be
eliminated. But, "Total War" has assumed such proportions
that, if given proper appraisal, the slate has been swept
clean and a settlement been effected after you have slain
300,000 men and children in one single day in DRESDEN. That,
too, is an atrocity from a human point of view. For it was
well known that DRESDEN was filled with all those refugees.
It has a different name and colour from the cruelty in those
camps but, essentially it is a degeneration arising out of
warfare, as it should not be waged.

Therefore, I say to myself: The accounts have really been
settled. You have annihilated the German people lock, stock,
and barrel, and you have swept its history from the face of
the earth for a thousand years to come.